Poll: Your take on shimmer effect?

[dbl]

A topic that pops up every once in a while is the shimmer effect caused by a particular light or lighting type. What's your take on the shimmer effect? Do you like it and want to see it on your tank or do you find it distracting? Let's have some conversation. Feel free to share your results if you've tried a particular light or added supplemental lights to achieve it.

 

[jwshiver]

I switched from LED to Metal Halide about two months ago and love the shimmer that I get. I did not like the disco ball affect from LED's. I found it too distracting and unnatural looking. Not to mention my coral growth and color has dramatically improved since the switch to MH.

 

[Jason mack]

I like the shimmer I get from my Chinese black boxes .. but it does depend on how much surface agitation (running 2 pumps or 3) I have , and I haven’t noticed the disco effect some complain about ..
Video taken with IPhone 6 ..running 3 pumps

 

[Waters]

I find it distracting but unavoidable with the surface agitation that I have in my tank.

 

[Fritzhamer]

Metal halide is hands down a more natural looking shimmer. As someone who snorkels three or four times a year, to me LEDs don’t look anything like what you see underwater. LEDs should come with a warning for epileptics, as strobe lights do.

The sun, and even halides, produce a thick band that is somewhat slow moving. Even incandescent lights on freshwater tanks produce a similar effect. LEDs however produce thousands of little spots that just seem to vibrate all over. I find it really distracting and not at all natural looking.

That being said, I’m really please with my led hybrid powermodule vs all the LEDs I’ve tried and plain t5s.

 

[Salty.Reefer]

I have a singular Kessil AW360 tank and a tank with 2 radion xr30 with diffusers.
I like bothe looks. The kessil shimmers like crazy when the return pump is turned up. I like it but it can also be destracting. The radions make the tank look more well lit. More of a blanket effect. I like both styles.
If metal halides didn’t consumer so much power, produce excess heat, and need to be replaced I would have them over my tanks.

 

[madweazl]

I've loved the shimmer ever since seeing a MH lit reef 20+ years ago (like looking at an actual reef). I never had a setup that made MH lighting practical but reached a happy medium when the Kessil A360s were launched. I'm toying with the idea of doing a larger tank in the basement and will go MH if that idea comes to fruition. I havent seen another source equivalent to MH or the Kessils.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Using a Kessil AP700, and I absolutely love the shimmer it gives off. I also suppliment with T5's so the shimmer is dulled a little bit, but I actually think it looks better than the full on shimmer.

 

[cracker]

I can go either way, I will say when I used metal halides,the shimmer was nice . I'm using black boxes on a fish only & T5's over the reef tank .

 

[DSC reef]

Having run mostly halides I couldn't imagine a tank without shimmer. We ran an all T5 tank and while the glow was nice I always wanted to see that shimmer the halides gave us. Our next build will be all kessil.

 

[cracker]

What type of lighting do these Kessils you speak of have? Are they a hybrid or such?

 

[DancingShark]

I like looking at it, but on other people tanks.

 

[madweazl]

What type of lighting do these Kessils you speak of have? Are they a hybrid or such?

They're dense matrix LEDs in a small array but many pair them up with T5s. They continue to produce shimmer but slightly muted.

 

[Greybeard]

Halide shimmer? Great... looks wonderful. If it weren't for the heat issues, I'd still be running halides.

LED shimmer? Only from densely packed LED's, thanks. 'Disco ball' multi colored shimmer is not only distracting, but downright irritating.

I'm a T5 guy these days... no supplement, no shimmer, and no, I don't miss it. Neither do my corals

 

[fish farmer]

I started with MH years ago and liked the shimmer and the intensity in my tank. I switched over to all PC's when I downgraded and lost the shimmer. When I put LED's on my tank the shimmer came back.

 

[davocean]

Many years of diving and seeing that natural shimmer make me want that in my reef as well, just looks more natural to me, gotta have it.
I love the growth and color of my T5's, but w/out some kind of supplementation to add shimmer it looks flat to me.

I do miss the MH's for looks and growth, but not the heat, so it's T5/LED combo for me

 

[dragon99]

Had to vote other. I like shimmer, but I haven't achieved it and I'm not trying to get it.

I'm running full T5's and I'm happy. Shimmer is one of the last things I'm looking for in a reef light, just before "storm mode"

 

[Rispa]

I like the shimmer, but love the mix of shimmer plus t5 to tone it down a bit

 

[jd371]

Started with 4 Kessil 160WE's and a lot of shimmer. I now have the Aquaticlife Hybrid fixture and the Kessil's shimmer has been muted some but still looks great.

 

[Nobbygas]

If you have ever dived, then you know that the shimmer effect is totally natural. Guess what, Corals tend to thrive in their natural environment, so why would anyone try to do something else?